Songpa gopchang restaurant with no wait before 6 PM: Jinseong Hanwoo

I posted a review of this place before because I loved it so much, and today I'm introducing it again! It's "Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship" in Songpa, Seoul — this is actually the place where I first tried gopchang (beef intestines), and it's such a great spot that I keep coming back to eat here.

Hours and parking

• Mon–Thu, Sun 12:00–23:00 (last order 22:00)
• Fri–Sat 12:00–24:00 (last order 23:00)
• First 2 hours parking free, paid after that

How to get into this Garak-dong gopchang restaurant without waiting

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Garak Flagship has always been a really famous restaurant, so there are already chairs set up outside for waiting customers. I wanted to eat without waiting, so I arrived a bit before 6 PM. There were already quite a few customers inside, but I was still able to get in right away!

By the time we ordered and the food arrived, though, the place was completely full.

Interior atmosphere and bag storage

The interior is pretty clean, and there are a lot of tables set up, which lets a lot of customers in at once. Every chair has a spot underneath to store your bag, so even though gopchang tends to splatter oil, you can keep your belongings tucked away without them picking up the smell.

At Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang, the gopchang itself is delicious, but the house-made kimchi and minari pickle garlic sauce are basically the trademark. They make the kimchi in-house, and it genuinely pairs so well with the gopchang — it's one of the reasons I always enjoy myself every time I come.

Menu and what we ordered this time

Everything on the menu is hanwoo beef-based, with gopchang, daechang, and makchang all available. For dessert, there's kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) fried rice and anchovy noodles too.

• Hanwoo gopchang x1
• Hanwoo makchang x2
• Kkakdugi fried rice

As I mentioned above, once you order, they bring out several kinds of kimchi along with the minari pickle garlic sauce. They even cut the kimchi into bite-sized pieces for you, which made it really easy to eat, haha.

Hanwoo gopchang and makchang on the grill, how to cook it

After just a short wait, the grill comes out loaded with vegetables plus the gopchang, makchang, and whatever else you ordered — it always comes out so full that it looks amazing just to look at, ㅠㅠ.

At the start, the staff help cook everything for you, and once it's done and you start eating, you just flip pieces yourself little by little as you go. Last time I had gopchang and daechang, but this time I tried gopchang and makchang.

Is there really no funky smell?

As the description says, I tried it both with the minari pickle garlic sauce and plain, and as always, it was so savory and delicious, ㅜㅠ. I'm especially bad with strong smells — I can't even handle a lot of gukbap (soup with rice) — but here there's really no smell at all, and it's so good.

The makchang was pretty much my first time trying it, and it was thicker and plumper than I expected, with a really great chewy texture.

And as you're eating, they bring out steamed egg as a service item, which is also incredibly soft — having some in between bites makes the meal even better.

Finishing with kkakdugi fried rice, giving it another try

Finally, since it feels like something's missing without rice, I ordered the kkakdugi fried rice. Unlike the stone plate from before, this comes out freshly made on a new metal plate, with various ingredients on top of the rice that you mix together before eating.

Honestly, last time I had this I felt there was more chili powder flavor than I expected, and it wasn't really my taste — but trying it again this time, I didn't notice that at all, and it was genuinely, genuinely delicious, haha. Thanks to that, I finished off the meal with the fried rice down to the last bite and ended things on a happy note!